Sneak had really warmed to the notion that one day, recharging a mobile phone or laptop might entail a tempting encounter with the drinks trolley, given promising research into alcohol-powered fuel cells. But now Sneak has learned that top boffins in the US are working on jet-engine-powered dynamos to provide power for portable gadgets. Yes, you read that right - researchers are working on miniature jet engines small enough to be etched onto a chip, hooked up to penny-sized electromagnetic generators that are already capable of churning out enough power to run a cellphone. It’s sobering to think that the same principles that once let Concorde streak across the sky at Mach 2, subjected to intense miniaturisation, might one day let your laptop carry on working for the many hours it takes a modern airliner to chug its way across the ocean. Worse, the new design dispenses with neat alcohol as fuel and instead sips from a tiny tank of diesel. And they call it progress...

21 Oct 2004